Acting entirely on instinct and the self-defense class I’d taken last summer, I balled the fist of my free hand and punched him as hard as I could in the gut. He dropped my elbow, huffed out a surprised gasp, and clutched his stomach.
“I’m sorry,” I said, appalled by my violent reaction. “I didn’t mean to hurt you, but you grabbed me and I…I just reacted.”
He winced and rubbed his flat belly. “I shouldn’t have grabbed you. I’m sorry.”
He looked sincere. He looked genuinely contrite and I…I was a big marshmallow of a soft-hearted softy. “It’s okay. Just don’t grab me again.”
“I think we’ve gotten off on the wrong foot,” he said. “I’m Cody Reynolds, and I’m really not the dickhead I seem.”
I pulled in a deep breath. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Carrie Harrison, your new neighbor. I would have brought you a welcoming gift, but you’re kind of a jerk.”
His laugh was deep and masculine, but also warm. The kind of laugh that made me want to laugh along. His eyes glittered with amusement and crinkled at the outer edges. “I’ll try to be a better neighbor.”
“I knew you were trouble from the moment I saw you.” I meant for the words to come out serious, but they came out a bit breathy, and flirty, my stomach still doing flips from his laugh.
His eyes brightened and his smile changed into something softer and…kinder. He glanced across the street. “It looks like we have an audience.”
I turned to see our elderly neighbor, Betty, on her front porch, all her attention on us. “Don’t we always.” Our neighbors on all sides were elderly, seventy or older, retired, and huge gossips. Most of them were my parents’ age and wonderful and fun, but Betty hated me. She’d always disliked me, because she was a bit cranky and sad, but since I’d turned down a second date with her funeral-director grandson, her dislike had turned to loathing.
“Would you like to come inside and continue our conversation away from spying eyes.”
“I’m not sleeping with you.” I winced. “Sorry, I’ve had some bad dates and I’ve found it’s best to be upfront.”
He laughed again. “I like a woman who knows what she wants and is clear about it. Would you like to come in if I promise to keep my hands off you? I’d like to make up for my past rudeness.”
My cheeks heated. “I think I should apologize, too,” I said. “We definitely got off on the wrong foot. I’d love to see inside your house, it’s the prettiest one on the block.”
He offered me his arm, but I hesitated. It was clear I’d been mistaken when I thought he was a total Neanderthal, but that didn’t mean I was ready to touch him. Based on the way my body had reacted to his laugh, touching him could be deadly. “You look like you’re about to head out,” I said. “I don’t want to keep you.”
He shook his head. “I was just going to go out to the local bar to have something to do. I’m not so good sitting around by myself.”
“Ah,” I said. “The life of the party.” I took his arm and he started down the driveway. I kept my touch light, but the feel of his strong, well-muscled arm warmed me in surprising and not unpleasant ways.
“I just like to be social.” There was a bite to his tone, like he was defensive. “Don’t you like to be social? Or do you prefer to sit home alone every night? You don’t seem to give your dates much of a chance to convince you to do anything else.”
What. The. Hell? I pulled my hand from his arm. “My date stranded me at Vince’s Italian and Barbecue, after giving me a book report on every book he’d ever read and not letting me get more than a couple of words in.” I admit my tone was also a bit snippy, but he’d started it.
“He stranded you?” Cody asked, his expression darkening. “What kind of douche bag would do something like that?”
“In his defense,” I said, softening a bit at Cody’s obvious outrage on my behalf. “I told him before he left the restaurant that I wouldn’t be seeing him again and I certainly wouldn’t be going back to his place tonight.”
Cody stomped up the stairs and onto his porch. I followed, a little worried he might stomp a hole right through the dark wood. I hoped his security deposit for the rental was substantial. “I don’t care if a woman tells a man to his face that his dick is tiny and he’s got crocodile breath, he doesn’t strand her and storm off like a toddler having a tantrum. Who is this douchebag?”
Oh, if only he knew that being stranded at Vince’s wasn’t the worst thing that had happened to me in the past eighteen months of terrible dates. The worst was probably the guy who’d said he had to go to the bathroom and disappeared, leaving me to pay the hundred dollar check he’d racked up. “It doesn’t matter,” I said. “I called Dilly and she picked me up and brought me home.”
“Like hell it doesn’t matter,” he said. “No man should treat any woman that way.”
He opened his front door and ushered me inside. I took a moment to admire the open floor-plan, the box beam ceilings, and the hardwood floors. There were comfy looking leather couches in the living room and a huge dining room table that could seat twelve. There was no clutter, no evidence of a person living there, not even a dust bunny. The place was immaculate, except for wine bottles and wine glasses on the dining room table and on the kitchen island arranged like they were decorations. It was clear where this guy’s priorities lay. “Not planning to stay long?” I asked, gesturing at his sparse furnishings.
His gaze was so intense I looked down at the floor, the lovely, buttery golden hardwood floor. “Carrie, please just promise me you won’t let anymore guys treat you that way. Where did you find this loser anyway?”
Okay, so he had a point. He had a lot of points, but I hated being told what to do and I hated the way he was looking at me like I was a pathetic idiot. “I didn’t let him treat me that way,” I said. “Would it have been better if I’d gotten in his car and let him take me home and then had to deal with his tantrum?”
Cody ran a hand through his hair and shook his head. “God, no. But just…Maybe just don’t date another asshole like that.”
“Great advice,” I said, my annoyance ramping up. “But the entire point of dating is figuring out if I like someone enough to see them again, right? How would you recommend I avoid the assholes? Not date at all?”
“Hell yes,” he said, his voice rising. “It’s not safe for you out there.”
“Not safe for me?” I asked. “I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself. I’ve been doing it my whole life. And trust me when I say who I date and how they treat me is none of your concern. You’ve certainly given me no indication that you know anything about taking care of anyone or anything.”
His head swung back and he just stared at me for a minute, stunned. I felt a little bit bad, but I did not appreciate his condescending attitude. He couldn’t even afford to buy furniture. He had no business telling me how to live my life. “You’re right,” he said. “I’m being a jerk again. I’m sorry.”
Now it was my turn to stare because his words shocked the ever-loving spit out of me. “It’s okay,” I said. “It’s been a rough night.”
“And I just made it worse,” he said, his expression softening. “Would you like a tour of the house? A beer? I’ve got a pie in the fridge from Anne down the street.”
Anne made the best pies, but exhaustion and sadness washed over me. I was standing in the foyer of a beautiful house arguing with a guy who had the manners and breeding of a wild boar. “Thanks, but maybe some other time,” I said. “I’ve got papers to grade at home.”
“You’re a teacher?” He looked genuinely interested. God, it had been so long since a man had asked me about myself and looked genuinely interested. It did something to me, made me want things, but he wasn’t the guy to want things with. I wanted a family and he was the life of the party. I liked old-time jazz music and he liked classic rock. I liked to knit and he liked to mow the lawn practically naked. I didn’t have time to waste on a gorgeous guy who would only di
stract me from my goals.
“Yeah,” I said. “Ninth-grade English.”
His smile was soft and sweet. “I bet all the guys are in love with you and all of the girls want to be you.”
That made me laugh. “Clearly, you’ve forgotten what it was like to be a teenager. I’m the old lady who makes them put their phones away and pay attention when what they really want to do is flirt with each other.”
“You don’t even know how fucking gorgeous you are, do you?”
I could feel myself getting sucked in by his flirty charisma and charm and I knew it wasn’t real. It couldn’t be. I wasn’t the sexy, beautiful woman he said I was. I was the little girl who’d had to grow up too fast because her parents expected her to be independent and her sister died too young, leaving them a bit broken. I was the girl who worked her way through college because there was no time to party when she knew her nephew was being destroyed piece by piece by his monster of a father. I was the girl who’d had to be a mom before she was ready, but now wasn’t quite sure how to be anything else, how to be alone without someone who needed to be cared for. “I don’t think you see me clearly at all,” I said, wishing I was wrong, even as I acknowledged how ridiculous that wish was. “I need to get home.”
“I blew it, didn’t I?” he asked. “You still hate me?”
I wished I could hate him, that would be easier. “I just think it’s better if we’re neighbors who say hello and that’s it.”
He stuffed his hands in his pockets and took a step back. “Yeah, you’re probably right.”
I walked out of his house and back to mine, feeling a bit like I’d lost something important.
CHAPTER TWO
Cody
I pushed myself out of bed the next morning at the sound of my alarm and headed out for my run before I was even fully awake. I’d slept like shit, my brain like a possessed television playing the same scene from a movie over and over. I’d blown it with my gorgeous neighbor and I felt like a total ass. I knew she was right. I could see from a mile away that she was the kind of woman looking for forever. And she was right that I was just a party boy looking for a good time. I might be trying to change, but I knew I was nowhere near ready for her. And yet, I hadn’t been able to keep my distance. I’d wanted to make it up to her for being rude to her, but somehow, I’d not only pissed her off again, but I’d made her sad to boot.
She’d felt so good, tucked against me as we walked toward my house. And then she’d told me what that asshole did and it lit me up like the fourth of July. I was fucking furious. No one should treat any woman that way, but especially not Carrie. She might forget her manners around me, but anyone could see she was kind and thoughtful. She was always visiting with our neighbors, even cranky, ancient Betty. I wanted to find that idiot who stranded her and smash his face in.
First, I should probably smash my own face in. I seemed to make a habit of saying all the wrong things around her and I was the guy, fuck-up in all other ways that I might be, who always said the right thing, especially to women.
I was groggy and running slower than I should, so I pushed myself to pick up the pace and stop ruminating about a woman who was all wrong for me. I was finally getting up to speed when I saw someone running toward me. The sun was behind her, but it definitely looked like a woman and there was only one woman I knew of in my neighborhood who went jogging every morning even earlier than I did. The prospect of seeing her motivated me to speed up.
I pasted on a friendly smile just as I moved into the shadow of a house and Carrie came into full view. Her cheeks were flushed red and her shoulder-length, blond waves were pulled up in a ponytail, many strands rebelling to fall around her face. And she was wearing…My feet stopped moving and my lungs froze until I was pretty sure I was going to die. She was wearing calf-length, skin-tight workout pants and a pink sports bra and…nothing else.
Damn, I was not going to survive this. Usually she wore yoga pants and baggy t-shirts to run, but the morning was unseasonably hot so I guess…She ran closer, her breasts bouncing just the tiniest bit, luscious cleavage on full display. I’d known she was gorgeous in the prim and proper outfits she usually wore, but I’d been completely unprepared for her body. She was hot as all fuck, with good-sized breasts, a tiny, trim waist, displaying tight ab muscles, that flared out to hips and a…I spun to check out her ass as she passed me, but she’d already stopped beside me.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
I was still having a bit of trouble catching my breath and all my blood was rushing down to my very large and impressive favorite body part, making it impossible to think. Shit. I’d been around plenty of hot women in my time and managed to act like a functioning adult, but here I was popping a boner in the middle of the street at the sight of Carrie practically naked. What had this woman done to me? I waved her off, hoping she wouldn’t notice my little problem. “I’m fine,” I said. “Just a cramp. Don’t stop your workout.”
She gave me a concerned look, her lips pursed, and all I could think about was those lips wrapped around my favorite body part, her head bobbing. And now my dick was bobbing, like a puppy hoping for a treat. “I could help you stretch,” she said.
I was going to pass out right there on the street. There was no blood left in my brain. “I’m good.” I tried to run away from her, like I was just getting back to my workout, but I’d forgotten about the curb and I tripped off the edge of it and onto my ass.
“Oh, no,” Carrie said, her voice like a caress. She bent over me, her cleavage on full display and offered me a hand up. “Are you okay?”
God, this woman had no idea what she did to me. Last night she practically ran out of my house and now I couldn’t get rid of her. She was too kind and caring for her own good. “I’ll be fine.” I twisted away from her offered hand to hide an erection that was way too visible in my workout shorts. I pushed to my feet, my back to her and tried to get myself under control. I ran through my to-do list for the day in my head, but it couldn’t compete with images of a naked Carrie my imagination was conjuring.
She huffed. I swear I could feel her breath on the back of my neck and it did not help. “Quit being so stubborn and just let me help.”
I don’t know what came over me, all my blood had left my brain and I wasn’t thinking clearly. Plus, if I turned and she saw what my real problem was, she would never speak to me again. She would probably write me off as a pervert and rightfully so. “You want to help?” I asked. “Just go. Stop talking to me, stop breathing on me, and stop standing there half-naked.”
I heard a sharp intake of breath, but when I turned, ready to apologize, she was already running away from me. Damn it, why did I have to be such a jackass?
“Why are you so mean to that sweet girl?” Norma Jane asked from her front porch, where she’d apparently been watching the whole exchange.
I shook my head and angled my body away so Norma Jane didn’t see anything upsetting. “I’m trying really hard not to be mean,” I said. “I really am.”
“Well, try harder,” Norma Jane said. “In my day, a gentleman asked a lady out before having lewd thoughts about her.”
My cheeks heated, probably from the exertion of my workout since I never blushed. Luckily, it was a welcome sign that this conversation had allowed blood back to my head. I faced Norma Jane. “In your day,” I said. “Women didn’t run around half-naked looking the way she looks.”
Norma Jane laughed. “You got me there, boy. Why don’t you stop in for some tea later on today? You haven’t been over to see me once since you moved in.”
“Are you going to mention my lewd thoughts?” I asked.
“I’ll do my best to refrain.”
“Then I’ll be by around three.”
I headed out to finish my run, pushing all thoughts of Carrie and her luscious body from my thoughts. I had enough problems without adding Carrie and her brain-addling presence to the list.
***
My phone rang j
ust as I stepped out of the shower. My stomach rumbled at me to feed it before I started on business, but business had to come first. I had one shot at achieving my dream, and I wasn’t going to let physical hunger interfere. I grabbed my phone from the nightstand, still naked as the day I was born, and answered.
“Cody,” Mary Ellen purred. She was the realtor helping me find the right property and she’d made it very clear she’d be happy to warm my bed. She was attractive and claimed she’d expect no strings to be attached to our roll in the hay, but I didn’t want to mix business and pleasure. Besides, my dick, fickle beast that it was, had no reaction to the sound of her bedroom voice. “I’ve got three places for you to see today. Can you be ready in an hour?”
“Sure,” I said, “Where should I meet you?”
“I’ll pick you up, sugar.”
“Great.” I hung up and headed to the kitchen to make breakfast. I loved to cook and I loved to eat, so my refrigerator was well-stocked, even if the rest of the house made it appear that no one lived there. I stirred up some eggs with spinach and red peppers and popped two slices of bread in the toaster. I had a fruit salad from the day before still in the fridge and I pulled that out and munched on it while I cooked the eggs. When it was all ready, I sat down at the little table in the breakfast nook, in the chair across from the window that faced Carrie’s house.
I got my seat just in time to see her step outside carrying a purse, a laptop bag, and about ten books. I might have considered going out and offering to help, but I doubted she’d accept it. I’d offered to help, once, a few weeks ago, when she’d come home with three huge bags of topsoil. She’d claimed she could handle them herself and proceeded to drag each of the bags into her garage, clearly struggling. Even when she’d dropped one of the bags halfway to the garage, she’d still insisted it wasn’t heavy and she didn’t need help. She was independent and self-sufficient to a fault.
The Deadbeat Next Door Page 2
